UF Health
Utilizing Pharmacists To Improve Care (UPTIC)
Launched in November 2023, the UPTIC program added seven new clinical pharmacists across UF Health hospitals in Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Central Florida to focus on general and internal medicine patients. By increasing touchpoints between pharmacists and patients, the program has already shown positive impacts on patient care and quality measures. Additionally, UPTIC supports a layered learning model, where pharmacists mentor pharmacy residents and students, significantly expanding their efforts.
What To Know About UPTIC
General & Internal Medicine Hospitals have traditionally deployed pharmacists to ICUs and critical care units where their expertise is needed most. UPTIC places pharmacists in general and internal medicine units in the hospital, which can make up a quarter of all hospital beds.
Patient Interactions UPTIC will increase the percentage of patients hospitalized within UF Health who know their pharmacists before discharge. These touchpoints will improve patient care by embedding pharmacists into the health care team.
Delivering Results UF Health pharmacists and IT specialists teamed up to develop a customizable dashboard within the electronic health records system, designed to track key metrics for the UPTIC program. This tool enables hospitals to monitor outcomes tailored to their location, offering a broad view of the program’s performance across the health system.
UPTIC Locations
Gainesville
3 Clinical Pharmacists
Jacksonville
3 Clinical Pharmacists
Central Florida
1 Clinical Pharmacist
Layered Learning Model
Leveraging Layered Learning
UPTIC’s practicing pharmacists play an important role in supervising and mentoring pharmacy residents and students. It’s projected that each full-time pharmacist drives a threefold increase in effort, resulting in more patient interactions and increased care opportunities.
"UPTIC has the potential to change the way academic health systems engage pharmacists in patient care. The increased touch points between hospitalized patients and pharmacists will improve the quality of care and patient satisfaction."
John Gums, Pharm.D., Executive Associate Dean and UPTIC Program Director